“Fallacy” is another way of saying false logic. Fallacies or rhetorical tricks deceive your audience with their style, drama, or pattern, but add little to your document in terms of substance. They are best avoided because they can actually detract from your effectiveness. There are several techniques or “tricks” that allow the writer to rely on style without offering substantive argument, to obscure the central message, or twist the facts to their own gain. Table "Table 12.10" examines the eight classical fallacies.
Learn to recognize them so they can’t be used against you, and learn to avoid using them with your audience.
|
Fallacy |
Definition |
Example |
|
1. Red Herring |
Any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue, particularly by relating the issue to a common fear. |
It’s not just about the death penalty; it’s about the victims and their rights. You wouldn’t want to be a victim, but if you were, you’d want justice. |
|
2. Straw Man |
A weak argument set up to easily refute and distract attention from stronger arguments. |
Look at the idea that criminals who commit murder should be released after a few years of rehabilitation. Think of how unsafe our streets would be then! |
|
3. Begging the Question |
Claiming the truth of the very matter in question, as if it were already an obvious conclusion. |
We know that they will be released and unleashed on society to repeat their crimes again and again. |
|
4. Circular Argument |
The proposition is used to prove itself. Assumes the very thing it aims to prove. Related to begging the question. |
Once a killer, always a killer. |
|
5. Ad Populum |
Appeals to a common belief of some people, often prejudicial, and states everyone holds this belief. Also called the bandwagon fallacy, as people “jump on the bandwagon” of a perceived popular view. |
Most people would prefer to get rid of a few “bad apples” and keep our streets safe. |
|
6. Ad Hominem or “Argument against the Man” |
Argument against the man instead of his message. Stating that someone’s argument is wrong solely because of something about the person rather than about the argument itself. |
Our representative is a drunk and philanderer. How can we trust him on the issues of safety and family? |
|
7. Non Sequitur or “It Does Not Follow” |
The conclusion does not follow from the premises. They are not related. |
Since the liberal 1960s, we’ve seen an increase in convicts who got let off death row. |
|
8. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc or “After This, Therefore because of This” |
It is also called a coincidental correlation. |
Violent death rates went down once they started publicizing executions. |
- 瀏覽次數：1960
